A recent announcement by the IRS states that all legal same-sex marriages will be recognized for federal tax purposes. This means that "individuals who were in same-sex marriages may, but are not required to, file original or amended returns choosing to be treated as married for federal tax purposes for one or more prior tax years still open under the statute of limitations" (Source: IRS Website). Please note, depending on your situation, amending may not result in a larger total refund. You will first want to review if amending to change your filing status is beneficial in your specific situation.

You can complete a 2012, 2011, and/or 2010 amendment using the TaxACT program.

Simply CLICK HERE to access 2010 through 2012 TaxACT Online returns. To either start a new return or sign in to an existing return you will need to know the Username & Password that you set up for your account at the time of registration to access an existing Online return. 

Note: Federal amendments can only be completed with TaxACT's Deluxe Program. If you are using the Free Federal Edition, you will be prompted to upgrade your return to Deluxe from within your return when you go to access the amendment section of the Q&A.

If you were a 2010 through 2012 TaxACT Online user or if you need to start a new 2010 through 2012 return, you can still prepare and print your amended return using our TaxACT Online service. However, after April 30, 2014, the 2010 return will no longer be accessible through TaxACT Online and you would need to download the software in order to amend that return. 

 
 

Amendment Steps:

(1) First be sure to PRINT a copy of BOTH originally filed returns as this will be your only record of the returns as they were first filed. If you used TaxACT, this can be done in the Online program by clicking the Print link in the upper right corner of your screen and then selecting Print Return and Instructions in the window that appears. Desktop users, click File, Print Return and make the appropriate selection in the window that appears.

(2) Select one of the two returns to amend, and enter the data for the other spouse in to that return in the TaxACT program. Print the combined return and carefully compare it to each of the original returns to ensure ALL information has been combined on the amended return.

Note: If this is a new TaxACT return, simply enter the combined information into one TaxACT return. You will be using the information from the printed original returns to complete the amendment process.

In the unlikely event you are amending from a filing status of Single to Married Filing Separate, you would amend each Single return, changing the filing status to MFS instead of combining the taxpayers' information.

(3) To complete the amendment process:

1. Click on the Filing tab and click Amend Federal Return directly below the blue tabs [Note: If you receive an error when accessing Amend Federal Return that states you must first complete the Filing steps prior to Amending the return, go to the Filing tab and click Mail Paper Return. You will just need to proceed through these screens until you are prompted to actually print the return (you do not need to print on paper, just clicking to view it is sufficient). Once you do this, you can go back to the Filing tab and choose to amend the return.]
2. The program will proceed with the interview questions for you to enter the appropriate information to complete the amended return and at the end of the process you will be prompted to print the amendment form and provided the mailing address for the form (note that you may have already completed both Steps 1 and 2 that are listed on the screen Amended Return - Four Steps if you have followed all of the above instructions)

(4) The amended return, Form 1040X, will need to be printed when completed and mailed to the IRS. Be sure to submit a copy of both original Federal returns with the amendment (Form 1040X) as this will help the IRS to track the combining of those two returns.

Amended returns cannot be e-filed. Normal processing time for Forms 1040X is 8 to 12 weeks from the IRS receipt date.

You may also need to verify with your state whether amending the federal return necessitates that you also amend your state return.